1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to improvements in paper, and in particular to the use of watermarks and/or embossings for strengthening paper sheets and documents made therefrom.
2. The Prior Art
Folded or bent corners (dog-ears) on banknotes present a significant problem for many banks, as they can cause problems in cash handling machines and can result in an artificially short note life. Many machines will reject such notes from circulation. One major European central bank has indicated that 80% of the rejections from their machines are due to such corner folds. Notes with folded corners can also be problematic in ATMs and cash dispensers and other note handling equipment. This is becoming a more significant problem as the use of such machines is becoming more and more widespread.
Efforts have been made to resolve this problem by providing note handling equipment with apparatus for flattening banknotes to enable a dog-eared or curled document to be fed without jamming. Such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,856.
Another problem which occurs with banknotes in particular results from the tendency of users to roll and fold notes for storage or keeping in wallets and purses. This gives rise to damage at the middle of the edges of the notes and similar problems arise in ATMs and other note handling equipment as occurs with dog-ears and corners.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to find a way of reducing the occurrences of corner folds and/or middle edge damage.